I’m running my second Chicago marathon and fundraising for the same organization, CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Cook County, which does amazing work advocating for and getting foster kids in the Chicago-area out of the overwhelmed and underfunded foster care system.

The premise:

Judges make many life changing decisions for children in foster care, often with little information about the child or their situation.

CASA trains and pairs volunteers with children who then spend 10-20 hours a month getting to know the child, their needs, along with case workers, therapists, doctors, and lawyers.

They then advocate in the best interest of the children in court so judges can make better decisions which help kids reunite with parents, find caring families, or legal guardians, resulting in a forever altered trajectory of their lives.

CASA is very effective. Foster children with a CASA advocate are 95% less likely to reenter the child welfare system. There are over 6,000 children dealing with issues of abuse and neglect in the under-resourced Cook County child protection system. Every $1 invested saves up to $5 in social service costs.

I’m hoping to reach my goal of $1,000, so no donation is too small. Thank you for your generosity and support!

ABOUT 2017 Chicago Marathon

For over 30 years, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cook County has been training everyday people to stand up for children that have experienced abuse and neglect in an overwhelmed and extremely under-resourced foster care system. Today there are anywhere between 5,800 to 6,000 children in Cook County’s foster care system—and CASA of Cook County can only provide one-on-one support for less than 6 percent of them. Because of our limited resources, our volunteer advocates are court-appointed for cases deemed most in need of individual, dedicated support. Learn more about our work here: http://bit.ly/CASA_Cook_Cty